Recap
I shake my head and ask him something I already know the answer to, "Your scars—are they from gang members?"
He nods briskly, "It's me or them."
"What difference does it make if I'm with you or not?" I ask seriously, trying to reason on my chances.
"Safety," he looks down at me, "I can keep you safe if I know you're not throwing yourself out there."
I frown, ready to throw a remark about how he phrased that, but I hold my tongue. Instead, a thought much more aggravating enters my mind and I gasp.
"What about your brother?"
His features darken as I mention him and he shakes his head, "James will not touch him. I won't let that happen."
"And if I do stay," I ask at last, "how the hell are you so sure we'll make it out alive?"
"We'll fight." He vows peering down at me, "After all, you did say you are familiar with it, right?"
Chapter Twenty Five
Two weeks.
It has been two weeks since Travis last confessed about his past. And in that time, I’ve managed to make my life completely and utterly revolve around the Emmons household. As extraterrestrial as that sounds, it’s the truth.
I recall the time Ashley had the audacity to ask which base Travis and I had gone past.
“Are you sure there isn’t something going on between you and him?” She ponders, narrowing her eyes at Travis’s lone figure near the cafeteria door, “I told you once that the sexual tension between you two is intense—but now it’s…astronomical.”
The cranberry juice I had been sipping spews out across the table in an array of red and nasty. Chase finds it amusing while Ashley leaps from her seat and stares at me with wide eyes.
“Ew!” She groans, brushing the liquid off her arms, “What on earth?”
“Sorry,” I smile sheepishly, “But seriously, astronomical?”
“What’s with all the space comments?” Chase muses, adjusting the pencil he slid in behind his ear, “They’re out of this world.”
“Chase,” Ashley says, “Just no.”
I chuckle to myself before propping up to get some towels. I spot a rack towards the back and head for them, but not before shooting a glance at Travis.
He’s holding a phone in his hand, his black leather jacket splayed across his shoulder effortlessly. He looks bored, like his time here is a waste—probably because it is.
Travis lifts his gaze and gives me a small nod before pushing off and stalking out of the room. With a sigh, I continue on my path and grab the towels, approaching back to Ashley and Chase in no time.
Just as I sit down and join in on the conversation, my phone vibrates in my front pocket.
Pulling it out, I glance at another text from Travis:
YOU ARE READING
Playing With Fire
Action"Rule number one," He whispers, pulling back to look me right in the eye, "Never let your guard down." He flashes me a cunning smirk as I stare at him, stunned at what he had just done. Only, he makes a mistake of turning to see what everyone else a...
